When Big Data Slows Down

Digital Humanities and the Study of Roman Amphitheaters

Sebastian Heath sebastian.heath@nyu.edu

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RomanEmpire_117_recoloured_2.svg

Colosseum

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colosseum_II.jpg

Amphitheaters around the Empire

Roman Empire Outline: http://awmc.unc.edu/

Pause for Themes, Terms and Questions

Many sizes

RStudio

http://www.r-project.org & http://rstudio.org

Media Rich (Google)

Assisi in Italy (Maximum dimension not known? Arena 65 x 38 Meters)

Media Rich (Google)

Carsulae in Italy (84 x 62 Meters)

Gladiators, Beast Hunts and Executions

The Zliten (Libya) Mosaic (C. 2nd Century AD?)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Bestiarii.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Circus_Leptis_Magna_Libya.JPG/1024px-Circus_Leptis_Magna_Libya.JPG

Many sizes… but not all shapes

“Media Rich” (Nimes)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arena_of_Nimes_2_HDR.jpg

“Media Rich” (Nimes)

“Media Rich” (Trier)

Public Information

http://www.maumburyrings.co.uk or “Peak Amphitheater”

How many amphitheater seats were there?

ramphs.all <- ramphs
ramphs.all.sp <- ramphs.sp

ramphs <- ramphs[ramphs$include,]
ramphs.sp <- ramphs.sp[ramphs.sp$include,]
  
ramphs$imputed.capacity <- NA
ramphs$imputed.capacity[!(is.na(ramphs$capacity))] <- ramphs[!(is.na(ramphs$capacity)),]$capacity

lm.imp.1 <- lm ( capacity ~ latitude +
                   ext.major + ext.minor + arena.major +
                   arena.minor + arena.major:ext.minor + arena.minor * ext.minor,
                data=ramphs )

pred.1 <- predict (lm.imp.1, ramphs)
ramphs$imputed.capacity <- ifelse (is.na(ramphs$capacity), pred.1, ramphs$capacity)

lm(capacity ~ ext.major, ramphs[(ramphs$ext.major < 120) & (ramphs$ext.major > 50),]) -> lm.ext.major
ramphs$imputed.capacity[(!is.na(ramphs$ext.major)) & (is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity))] <- ramphs$ext.major[(!is.na(ramphs$ext.major)) & (is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity))] * lm.ext.major$coefficients[2]

length(ramphs$imputed.capacity[is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity)])
## [1] 74
ramphs$imputed.capacity[is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity)] <- 5000

sum(ramphs$imputed.capacity)
## [1] 2270850

With many thanks to Katie Anderson of NYU Libaries Data Services who is in no way responsible for my (mis?)use of her work.

Where are the amphitheaters seats?

Spatial History

R. White. What is Spatial History? Spatial History Lab: Working paper; Submitted 1 February 2010;

Paragraph 36 (emphasis author): “One of the important points that I want to make about visualizations, spatial relations, and spatial history is something that I did not fully understand until I started doing this work and which I have had a hard time communicating fully to my colleagues: visualization and spatial history are not about producing illustrations or maps to communicate things that you have discovered by other means. It is a means of doing research; it generates questions that might otherwise go unasked, it reveals historical relations that might otherwise go unnoticed, and it undermines, or substantiates, stories upon which we build our own versions of the past.”

Calculating Distances

Who should know how to do this?

#generate distances of all amphitheaters to all other amphitheaters
ramphs.dists <- spDists(ramphs.sp,ramphs.sp,longlat = TRUE)

# but let's use names
colnames(ramphs.dists) <- ramphs$id
rownames(ramphs.dists) <- ramphs$id

# Would be nice to have a d.f in the form from,to,km
as.data.frame(ramphs.dists) -> ramphs.dists.df

#add column of names, in anticipation of using gather()
cbind(from = ramphs$id,ramphs.dists.df) -> ramphs.dists.df

gather(ramphs.dists.df, to, km, 2:dim(ramphs.dists.df)[2]) -> ramphs.dists.df

# data now in nice columns but...
# we still have the 0Km rows.
#set phasers to kill...
ramphs.dists.df[ramphs.dists.df$km > 0,] -> ramphs.dists.df

The Data

from to km
2 arlesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3241.8637
3 lyonAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3255.7344
4 ludusMagnusArena duraEuroposAmphitheater 2579.2087
5 romeFlavianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2579.4293
6 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense duraEuroposAmphitheater 2577.5114
7 eleutheropolisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 645.7789
8 meridaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4177.5360
9 newsteadAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4025.3811
10 conimbrigaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4341.4319
11 cumaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2433.6452
12 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2427.6184
13 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2427.4305
14 syracuseAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2304.6697
15 carthageAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2747.3387
16 hadrianVillaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2556.7911
17 corinthAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1636.6076
18 marcianopolisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1474.9250
19 porolissumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2013.5727
20 nijmegenAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3355.6355
21 carnuntumMilitaryAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2466.9678
22 carnuntumCivilianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2468.8220
23 leptisMagnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2453.6977
24 empuriesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3355.0218
25 tarragonaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3509.8708
26 cagliariAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2843.1324
27 italicaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4179.6454
28 segobrigaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3862.8982
29 catiniaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2321.2086
30 paestumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2347.9264
31 lunaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2818.9115
32 casinumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2463.0371
33 viminaciumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1997.6238
34 flaviaSolvaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2491.4773
35 rusellaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2704.1570
36 parisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3503.1993
37 octodurusForumClaudiiVallensiumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3091.3570
38 cyreneAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1758.7145
39 libarnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2922.8465
40 luceriaNoukeriaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2338.2406
41 avellaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2389.3544
42 nimesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3265.2724
43 charterhouseAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3913.4313
44 chesterAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3968.2666
45 gennesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3665.4275
46 scylletiumScolaciumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2194.2565
47 oudnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2762.5166
48 carthagoNovaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3734.8512
49 virunumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2573.2558
50 carsulaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2587.5644
51 florenceAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2715.0934
52 ocriculumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2590.6507
53 lixusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4236.4306
54 arezzoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2659.1569
55 larinumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2379.4143
56 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2575.1280
57 allifaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2418.0908
58 cimiezAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3030.6213
59 hydataHypsitanaForumTraianiAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2870.7728
60 luccaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2776.2445
61 hispellumAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2586.4036
62 veronaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2777.8239
63 aquincumCivilAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2295.8815
64 aquincumMilitaryAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2294.5178
65 aldburoughAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3897.0494
66 perigueuxAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3567.3616
67 cividateCamunoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2845.9662
68 grumentoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2269.7408
69 albaFucensAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2507.4774
70 colAugustaRauricaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3080.9122
71 sutriumAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2606.8748
72 sarmizegetusaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 1932.7637
73 salonaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2300.9942
74 londonAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3739.6890
75 tiburAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2555.5455
76 caerleonAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3935.9530
77 telesiaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2402.6495
78 urbisagliaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2533.6269
79 saintesAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3678.1577
80 assisiAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2591.6974
81 durresAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 1998.7495
82 lambaesisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3127.0012
83 mactarisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2857.1786
84 cirencesterAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3871.4994
85 vindonissaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3043.5466
86 thysdrusSmallAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2730.0252
87 frejusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3070.4752
88 gortynAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1440.7413
89 leptiminusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2710.4584
90 miciaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1954.3939
91 gemellaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3209.0205
92 cherchellAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3470.7413
93 pulaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2544.6444
94 carmonaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4144.6798
95 caesareaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 595.2877
96 pergamumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1299.6263
97 anazarbusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 516.0525
98 antiochAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 444.7205
99 cyzicusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1294.0974
100 sabrathaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2615.5671
101 salamisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 625.1647

Amphitheaters Closer <= 80 Km.

from to km
254 nimesAmphitheater arlesAmphitheater 27.9687539
641 romeFlavianAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 0.2207755
642 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense ludusMagnusArena 1.6972845
652 hadrianVillaAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 24.2518151
688 ocriculumAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 57.9313847
692 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 27.8779458
705 albaFucensAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 78.8128462
707 sutriumAmphitheatre ludusMagnusArena 44.5686800
711 tiburAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 26.3424522
764 monteleoneAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 48.6032488
817 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 27.5479283
831 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 2.3386907
839 faleriiNoviAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 47.1219778
852 ludusMagnusArena romeFlavianAmphitheater 0.2207755
854 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense romeFlavianAmphitheater 1.9179319
864 hadrianVillaAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 24.4592422
900 ocriculumAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 57.8988659
904 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 27.9206250
917 albaFucensAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 79.0177124
919 sutriumAmphitheatre romeFlavianAmphitheater 44.4399399
923 tiburAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 26.5447118
976 monteleoneAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 48.7236605
1029 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 27.7012943
1043 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 2.1340177
1051 faleriiNoviAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 47.0474041
1064 ludusMagnusArena romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 1.6972845
1065 romeFlavianAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 1.9179319
1076 hadrianVillaAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 22.6892929
1112 ocriculumAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 58.2690286
1116 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 27.6677326
1129 albaFucensAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 77.2652498
1131 sutriumAmphitheatre romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 45.6300686
1135 tiburAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 24.8254037
1188 monteleoneAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 47.7546597
1241 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 26.3553070
1255 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 3.9825622
1263 faleriiNoviAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 47.7821715
2067 bobadelaAmphitheater conimbrigaAmphitheater 58.7178710
2132 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 6.1073447
2133 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 6.2837252
2152 casinumAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 73.7562075
2161 avellaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 48.4031736
2177 allifaeAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 58.5692162
2197 telesiaAmphitheatre cumaeAmphitheater 56.5159704
2252 beneventoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 68.9187382
2253 calviRisortaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 40.5962748
2264 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 31.5102458
2265 capuaImperialAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 31.6279460
2266 liternoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 9.0374043
2267 noleAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 40.2940775
2278 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 51.8324988
2293 aquinoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 78.6335590
2331 minturnaeAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 50.7130994
2332 sinuessaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 38.8242914
2343 cumaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 6.1073447
2345 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 0.1970432
2364 casinumAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 77.1704472
2373 avellaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 43.4014628
2389 allifaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 58.1718231
2409 telesiaAmphitheatre pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 54.2711716
2464 beneventoAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 64.7172784
2465 calviRisortaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 41.7859029
2476 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 30.5667414
2477 capuaImperialAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 30.7001985
2478 liternoAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 13.2343994
2479 noleAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 35.1755547
2490 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 45.7526823
2543 minturnaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 55.2462354
2544 sinuessaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 43.2720751
2555 cumaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 6.2837252
2556 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 0.1970432
2576 casinumAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 77.2015414
2585 avellaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 43.2076626
2601 allifaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 58.0807452
2621 telesiaAmphitheatre pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 54.1308566
2676 beneventoAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 64.5340894
2677 calviRisortaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 41.7470277
2688 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 30.4682517
2689 capuaImperialAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 30.6020895
2690 liternoAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 13.3253543
2691 noleAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 34.9808437
2702 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 45.5688926
2755 minturnaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 55.3241795
2756 sinuessaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 43.3485126
2785 catiniaAmphitheater syracuseAmphitheater 50.9785638
3015 oudnaAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 30.3648270
3151 uticaAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 31.6378238
3152 tebourbaAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 42.8836577
3153 hencherElKasbatAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 62.5833037
3159 pupputAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 55.9193622
3167 carpisAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 24.1028949
3184 ludusMagnusArena hadrianVillaAmphitheater 24.2518151
3185 romeFlavianAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 24.4592422
3186 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense hadrianVillaAmphitheater 22.6892929
3230 carsulaeAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 79.5150391
3232 ocriculumAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 58.1566593
3236 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 25.8478135
3249 albaFucensAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 54.5782990
3251 sutriumAmphitheatre hadrianVillaAmphitheater 56.1999547
3255 tiburAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 2.6290540

As a Network

Bigger Labels

Degree

http://www.slideshare.net/gcheliotis/social-network-analysis-3273045

##    Min. 1st Qu.  Median    Mean 3rd Qu.    Max. 
##   1.000   1.000   3.000   6.393  10.250  21.000

High Degree

# print the top quartile
V(close.amphitheaters.nw)[degree >= summary(V(close.amphitheaters.nw)$degree/2)[5]]
## Vertex sequence:
##  [1] "ludusMagnusArena"                 "romeFlavianAmphitheater"         
##  [3] "romeAmphitheatrumCastrense"       "cumaeAmphitheater"               
##  [5] "pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater"      "pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater"       
##  [7] "carthageAmphitheater"             "hadrianVillaAmphitheater"        
##  [9] "paestumAmphitheater"              "casinumAmphitheater"             
## [11] "luceriaNoukeriaAmphitheater"      "avellaAmphitheater"              
## [13] "oudnaAmphitheater"                "carsulaeAmphitheater"            
## [15] "ocriculumAmphitheater"            "arezzoAmphitheater"              
## [17] "larinumAmphitheater"              "lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater"       
## [19] "allifaeAmphitheater"              "hispellumAmphitheatre"           
## [21] "albaFucensAmphitheater"           "sutriumAmphitheatre"             
## [23] "tiburAmphitheater"                "telesiaAmphitheatre"             
## [25] "urbisagliaAmphitheater"           "assisiAmphitheatre"              
## [27] "mactarisAmphitheater"             "sanBenedettoDeiMarsiAmphitheater"
## [29] "monteleoneAmphitheater"           "bolsenaAmphitheater"             
## [31] "ascoliPicenoAmphitheater"         "beneventoAmphitheater"           
## [33] "calviRisortaAmphitheater"         "sanVittorinoAmphitheater"        
## [35] "capuaRepublicanAmphitheater"      "capuaImperialAmphitheater"       
## [37] "liternoAmphitheater"              "noleAmphitheater"                
## [39] "noceraSuperioreAmphitheater"      "aquinoAmphitheater"              
## [41] "seressiAmphitheater"              "chemtouAmphitheater"             
## [43] "sidiBouArkoubAmphitheater"        "genzanoPrivateAmphitheater"      
## [45] "ainHedjahAmphitheater"            "uticaAmphitheater"               
## [47] "tebourbaAmphitheater"             "hencherElKasbatAmphitheater"     
## [49] "hencherZembraAmphitheater"        "bullaRegiaAmphitheater"          
## [51] "pupputAmphitheater"               "siccaVeneriaAmphitheater"        
## [53] "thibariAmphitheater"              "statiliusTaurusAmphitheater"     
## [55] "carpisAmphitheater"               "faleriiNoviAmphitheater"         
## [57] "teramoAmphitheater"               "ordonaAmphitheater"              
## [59] "bevanaAmphitheater"               "minturnaeAmphitheater"           
## [61] "sinuessaAmphitheater"

Mapping Degree

Plotting Degree

Distance to Road

http://darmc.harvard.edu/

Counting Seats Near Roads

Seats Near “Major” Cities

… and Riots

alt text http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Pompeian_mural_depicting_the_Amphitheatre_riots.jpg

Blatant Eye Candy?